That damn front lower control arm bolt!
"snaps back to where it was"
The bolt goes back if you rotate it? That does not sound like a broken nut.
That sounds like you broke some adhesion between the bushing sleeve and the bolt but its not loose, so when you rotate it, the bushing is forcing it back to were it was (elastic deformation of the bushing)
A pop that loud would not be from the nut breaking in my experience.
I personally thought I broke my nut inside the subframe, but really, I broke the bolt free from the bushing sleeve. It just required about a billion more rotations before the bolt backed out.
I think you just need to keep going, you need like 130 deg of rotation so you can get past the bushing deformation to back the bolt out.
Just my opinion from my own experience.
The bolt goes back if you rotate it? That does not sound like a broken nut.
That sounds like you broke some adhesion between the bushing sleeve and the bolt but its not loose, so when you rotate it, the bushing is forcing it back to were it was (elastic deformation of the bushing)
A pop that loud would not be from the nut breaking in my experience.
I personally thought I broke my nut inside the subframe, but really, I broke the bolt free from the bushing sleeve. It just required about a billion more rotations before the bolt backed out.
I think you just need to keep going, you need like 130 deg of rotation so you can get past the bushing deformation to back the bolt out.
Just my opinion from my own experience.
On the drivers side I was able to turn the bolt no problem with a 1/2" ratchet but it was pushing the nut out (I cut a hole to look) so I think the inner sleeve was rusted to the bolt but let go of the rubber.
the other side however I was not able to get enough leverage to get it to break. I ended up just cutting the arms off since I have spares with the Perrin bushings already in them ready to go. Waiting on my new bolts and I still need to get the bolts out at this point. Ran out of cutting discs for the Dremel and I was too tired from being ill this past week to keep going.
burning the bushing out to be able to cut the steel inner sleeve off the bolt.
the other side however I was not able to get enough leverage to get it to break. I ended up just cutting the arms off since I have spares with the Perrin bushings already in them ready to go. Waiting on my new bolts and I still need to get the bolts out at this point. Ran out of cutting discs for the Dremel and I was too tired from being ill this past week to keep going.
burning the bushing out to be able to cut the steel inner sleeve off the bolt.
It wasn't as bad as dropping the trans to do the clutch... but it was close. I hated every second of it lol.
What's worse was I was out $200 for my spare A-arms since I was just going to turn around and sell the ones off the car.. Pissed me off.
What's worse was I was out $200 for my spare A-arms since I was just going to turn around and sell the ones off the car.. Pissed me off.
Yeah, if they aren't worn out or you're just not trying to get everything out of the car, not worth it.
I will say though that they made a crazy difference in the turn in feel of the car. It is so much more fun to drive because of them.
I will say though that they made a crazy difference in the turn in feel of the car. It is so much more fun to drive because of them.
you might not have as much of an issue as someone like me whose car has live in snow and winters for 12 years though.
It's worth a shot to see if you can just get those bolt to back out. if you can then it'll be an easy swap.
It's worth a shot to see if you can just get those bolt to back out. if you can then it'll be an easy swap.
I probably could've saved my A arms had I been able to get a sawzall in there, it wouldve eaten into the subframe though and I don't have a welder to weld it up on the spot.. I actually still need to get the little boxes I cut out welded back up
such a **** poor design
im dealing w/ this **** right now.
I managed to remove that bolt from the drivers side, and now im dealing with the passenger side. Its quite the paint in the ***.
fail design... thanks mitsu.
im dealing w/ this **** right now.
I managed to remove that bolt from the drivers side, and now im dealing with the passenger side. Its quite the paint in the ***.
fail design... thanks mitsu.
So glad I have a southern car. I had both sides off quick, 20 mins per side. One hit with a dead blow hammer and all my bolts were hand tight til they came out. Just a tad over 220k miles.
Last edited by TexasLT4; Apr 11, 2016 at 12:50 AM.
Edit: Fast forward to the evening. I removed the passenger side LCA with little effort, 25" breaker bar did the trick. Now the driver's side is another story, it's been soaking in PB since yesterday, and I've dumped almost 1/2 of the can on it to attempt to loosen the bolt. I can turn the bolt left maybe 1/8 of a turn and that's it, it seizes up and wants to strip the bolt. I've actually already done a bit of damage to the bolt head, so I'm afraid to torque it really hard. I'm thinking the bolt is rusted to the bushing sleeve, as I can move the breaker bar 1/8 a turn left or right and that's it. Loosening the bolt raises the control arm, it's annoying. Any recommendations? Should I torch the bolt head hoping to break it loose? Sucks I've got one side out, don't want to give up on the driver's side.
Last edited by SW20Mike; Apr 11, 2016 at 04:54 PM.
I pulled mine out after soaking the bolts in PB Blaster. But my car was a southern car most of its life. It has spent the last 2 years in England with 1 full winter on the road. But now she is garaged during the winter so hopefully I can keep the rust at bay.
Mine came out pretty easy but I could not remove the rear arms. Funny thing is I removed the front arms and inspected the bushing and everything was still like new (72k miles). I'll change the bushings out whenever I get back stateside as I'm looking at possibly doing tubular subframes so we'll see.
Mine came out pretty easy but I could not remove the rear arms. Funny thing is I removed the front arms and inspected the bushing and everything was still like new (72k miles). I'll change the bushings out whenever I get back stateside as I'm looking at possibly doing tubular subframes so we'll see.